On the feedback control of hitch angle through torque-vectoring

This paper describes a torque-vectoring (TV) algorithm for the control of the hitch angle of an articulated vehicle. The hitch angle control function prevents trailer oscillations and instability during extreme cornering maneuvers. The proposed control variable is a weighted combination of terms accounting for the yaw rate, sideslip angle and hitch angle of the articulated vehicle. The novel control variable formulation results in a single-input single-output (SISO) feedback controller. In the specific application a simple proportional integral (PI) controller with gain scheduling on vehicle velocity is developed. The TV system is implemented and experimentally tested on a fully electric vehicle with four on-board drivetrains, towing a single-axle passive trailer. Sinusoidal steer test results show that the proposed algorithm significantly improves the behavior of the articulated vehicle, and justify further research on the topic of hitch angle control through TV.